Locking means for movable support plate



Aug. 31, 1965 J. MILLER ETAL LOCKING MEANS FOR MOVABLE SUPPORT PLATEFiled Feb. 1'7, 1964 5 R O T N E V W MERLE J1 MILLER & BY HOWARD J.PETTY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,2tl3,01'6 LGCKING MEANS FORMOVABLE SUPIGR'I PLATE Merle J. Miller, 6717 W. 88th Place, Oak Lawn,111., and Howard J. Petty, 1420 Burnham Ave., Caiumet City,

. Filed Feb. '17, 1964, Ser. No. 345,160

6 Claims. (Cl. )310) This invention relates generally to locking devicesand more particularly to a locking device for locking in place anadjustably positioned support member.

A particularly suitable application of this invention is for footbinders of water skis. Foot binders for Water skis individually comprisea flexible instep binder fixedly mounted on the ski and a flexible heelcup spaced rearwardly from the instep binder and which is mounted on theski for adjustable positioning thereon to accommodate different sizefeet and also to provide contracting and expanding action for insertingor removing the foot and to bind the foot to the ski.

An object of this invention is to provide a locking device for a movablesuport member which provides a positive locking engagement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a locking device for amovable support member which includes parts and arrangement of partswhich are simple in structure, easy and economical to manufacture andassemble.

Another object is to provide a locking device which operates easily andrapidly.

A further object is to provide a locking device for a movable supportmember which allows for small adjustmerits.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from a careful study of the following detailed descriptiontaken with reference to the accompanying drawing in which is shown apreferred embodiment of our invention.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the present invention as applied tofoot binders for water skis;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary plan elevation of the water ski on which thisinvention is applied;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view taken alongline 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan elevation of a modified locking device of the presentinvention;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged vertical transverse sectional view taken alongline 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a top view sectioned along line 77 of FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 8 is another modified locking device of the present invention asapplied for supporting an armature.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURES 1-4, numeral 10designates the present invention generally as it is aplied to Water skis12. Its function is to movably support the heel portion 14 relative tothe instep portion 16 of foot binder 18. The present invention comprisesa base which in this application can be the water ski 12 or a base plate20 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 connected to water ski 12. Slidablymovable over said base plate member 20 is a support plate member 22 towhich is connected a device such as heel binder 14 which is locked inplace after being adjustably position. Support plate 22 is provided withlaterally spaced trackways 24 and spaced therebetween is an elongatedslot 26 extending longitudinally of said support plate 22. Slot 26 isformed with closely spaced notches 28 in one edge thereof. Base plate 20is provided with guide pins 30 for engaging trackways 24 of supportplate 22 and a man Patented Aug. 31, 1365 pivot post 32 extendingupright through slot 26 of support plate 22 to constrain support plate22 to uniaxial or forward and rearward sliding motion over base plate20.

Knob 34 is mounted on pivot post 32 for rotational movement thereon.Knob 34 has a central bore 36 for receiving pivot post 32 and a hole 38in the bottom end of said knob 34 which bears an eccentric relation tobore 36 to kinematically provide a ranking action therebetween. Knob 34is connected to pivot post 32 by means of a spring washer 40 seated in agroove in post 32 or in any other convenient manner which will connectknob 34 to post 32 to prevent axial movement therebetween whilepermitting rotatable movement thereon.

Wire spring 42 serves as the locking member. One end thereof is anchoredto base 20 as at 44 and the other end is upturned to provide a shaftmeans 46 which extends above support plate member 22. Wire spring 42 iscurved and anchored at 44 so that upright shaft means 46 has a biastoward a notch 28 forward of pivot post 32 and in a generally tangentialdirection relative to knob 34. Shaft means 46 of wire spring 42 is movedto engage one of notches 28 in support plate 22 by rotating knob 34against the bias of spring 42 to disengage shaft means 46 from one ofsaid notches 28. Support plate 22 is adjustably moved forward orrearward to a desired position and upon releasing knob 28, the returnbias of spring 42 will counter-rotate knob 34 and return shaft means 46into one of said notches 28 aligned with shaft means 46. Support plate22 is thereby locked in position against rearward movement relative tobase 20.

Any rearward movement of plate 22 Willbe prevented since any movement ofshaft means 46 which is eccentrically engaged to knob 28 forward ofpivot post 32, will require said shaft means to follow a circular pathwhich includes a lateral resultant against engaging notch 28. Sincesupport plate 22 is restrained from being laterally displaced by guidemeans 30 and pivot post 32 engaging, respectively, trackways 24 and slot26, a locking or binding engagement between knob 34, shaft means 46 andits engaging notch 28 is obtained. This locking engagement thus obtainedincreases in magnitude in direct proportion to the force acting tolongitudinally displace support plate 22 rearwardly.

Since the effectiveness of the locking means of this invention requiresthat shaft means 46 engage a notch 28 which is positioned forward ofpivot post 32, support plate 22 may be adjustably moved longitudinallyforward without disengaging shaft means 46 from engaging notch 28 bymanually rotating knob 34. A forward movement of support plate 22 willcause the notch engaging shaft means 46, because of its eccentricconnection therewith, to rotate knob 34 and thereby be guided laterallyaway from its engaging notch 28 and thereby effecting a disengagementtherebetween against the urging of wire spring 42 which repeatedlyreturns shaft means 46 to each succeeding notch 28 as support plate 22is moved forward. In applications where a locking restraint of onlyunilateral movement is desired, the above described structure issuflicient. However, in application of the present invention where it isdesired to provide a locking restraint to each of the bilateral movementof support plate 22, a modification of our invention will be required asshown in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7. This modified device of our invention isdesignated generally by numeral and comprises an additional curved wirespring 142 anchored to base 20 as at 144. Wire spring 142 is similarlyprovided at its other end with an upturned shaft means 146 which isengaged to knob 34 by being received in a second hole 138 eccentricallylocated in knob 34 approximately diametrically opposed from hole 38therein. Spring 142 is biased laterally toward the other side ofelongated slot 126 in support plate 46. Said other side of slot 126 isformed With a plurality of closely spaced notches 128 which are engagedby shaft means 146 of spring 142 to lock support plate 22 and therebyprevent said plate 22 from moving forwardly. Therefore, thismodification of the device of our invention provides a locking means forpreventing movement of support plate 22 in either forward or rear- Warddirection. This locking engagement may easily be released for adjustablemovement of plate 22 by merely rotating knob 34 to disengage shaft means46 and 145 from notches 28 and 128, respectively, in support plate 22.

It is obvious from the above description that our invention comprises anovel structure and arrangement of parts by which a locking engagementmay be obtained between a base plate and a support plate movable thereonwhich provides positive locking rapidly and with a single operation, andwhich is very economical to manufacture and assemble.

Though we have shown and described a single preferred application of ourinvention, it is realized that changed and modifications may be made bythose skilled in the art in order to apply our invention to otherapplications which require a locking means for an adjustably movablesupport plate. For example, FIGURE 8 shows the device of our inventionused to support a bearing mount 48 in which is journalled one end ofshaft 50 of armature 52 which is supported for shop work thereon. Theother end of shaft 50 is supported by stationary bearing mount 54 onbase plate 56. Support plate 58 is movable thereon to adjust theposition of bearing mount 48 to accommodate different length armatures.In this modification, a portion of side 60 of a generally rectangularsupport plate 58 is provided with a plurality of notches 62. Guide means64 and 66 are provided in base plate member 56 to guide support plate 58in its longitudinal movement. Pivot post 68 is provided in base plate 56adjacently spaced from said notched portion of side 60 of support plate58. Knob 70 is rotatably mounted on pivot post 68 and is constructedsimilar to knob 34 of FIGURE 3 in the manner of its connection to theshaft end of spring member 72. Spring member 72 is anchored to baseplate 56 as at 74 and is formed so that the shaft end thereof is biasedtoward said notches 62 forward of said pivot post 68. The shaft end ofspring member 72 is disengaged from one of said notches 62 by rotatingknob 7%. After support plate 58 is adjustably moved, it is locked inplace by releasing knob 70. The bias of spring member 72. to- Wardsupport plate 58 will return the shaft end of spring member 72 into oneof said notches 62 aligned therewith and thereby lock support plate 58in position relative to base plate 56.

Therefore, we intend to include changes which do not depart from thespirit and scope of our invention as de fined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Means for locking a movable member comprising:

a base member, said base member being provided with a pivot post andlaterally spaced guide means;

a support member slidably movable over said base member, said supportmember having laterally spaced trackway means;

said guide means of said base member connecting said trackway means ofsaid support member to constrain said support member to uni-axialmovement over said base member;

said support member having an elongated slot, said elongated slotreceiving therethrough said pivot post, and one side of said slot beingformed with a plurality of notches;

a flexible wire interposed between said base member and said supportmember, one end of said flexible wire being anchored to said basemember, the other end of said flexible wire being upturned for engagingone of said plurality of notches in said support membet and extendingabove said support member; and

knob means mounted on said pivot post for rotatable movement thereon,said knob means having a hole therein for receiving said upturned end ofsaid flexible wire, and said upturned end of said flexible wire beingguided by said knob means out of and into a selected notch forward ofsaid pivot post against and with, respectively, the urging of said wire.

2. A locking device for sliding plate members comprisa base plate, saidbase plate being provided with a pivot post and laterally spaced guidemeans;

a support plate having laterally spaced trackways;

said guide means of said base plate connecting said trackways of saidsupport plate to constrain said support plate to forward and rearwardmovement over said base plate;

said support plate having an elongated slot, one side of said slot beingformed with a plurality of closely spaced notches, said slot receivingtherethrough said pivot post;

a convolutely curved Wire spring interposed between said base plate andsaid support plate, one end of said wire spring being anchored to saidbase plate, the other end of said wire spring being upturned to engageone of said plurality of notches forward of said pivot post andextending above said support plate; and

knob means mounted on said pivot post for rotatable movement thereon,and said knob means connecting said upturned end of said wire spring forguiding said upturned end out of and into a selected notch against andwith, respectively, the urging of said spring.

3. A heel support for water ski comprising:

a plate member, said plate member having trackways and an elongated slotformed with a plurality of closely spaced notches;

pin means connecting said water ski and engaging said trackways of saidplate member to constrain said plate member to slidable forward andrearward movement;

a pivot post connecting said water ski and extending upright throughsaid elongated slot in said plate member;

a wire spring interposed between said water ski and said plate member,one end of said wire spring being anchored to said water ski and theother end of said wire spring being upturned for extending uprightthrough said slot above said plate member forward of said pivot post;and

knob means mounted on said pivot post for rotatable movement thereon,said knob means having passageway therein for receiving said upturnedend of said wire spring, and said upturned end being guided by said knobmeans out of and into a selected notch, forward of said pivot post,against and with, respectively, the urging of said spring.

4. A locking device for a movable support member comprising:

a movable support member, said support member being provided withtrackways and an elongated slot having a plurality of notches in eachelongated side of said slot; 7

a base member having means for connecting said trackways of said supportmember, and a pivot post extending upright thereon through said slot insaid support member to constrain said support member to forward andrearward sliding movement over said base member;

a spring wire interposed between said base member and said supportmember, one end of said spring wire being anchored to said base memberand the other end of said spring Wire being angled, said angled uprightend extending above said support member through said slot forward ofsaid pivot post and engaging one of said notches in one side of saidslot;

a second spring wire interposed between said base member and saidsupport member, one end of said spring wire being anchored to said basemember and the other end of said spring wire being angled upright, saidangled upright end extending above said support member through said slotrearward of said pivot post and engaging one of said notches in theother side of said slot;

knob means mounted on said pivot post for rotatable movement thereon,said knob means having a hole therein for receiving said upright end ofsaid first named spring wire, said knob means having a second holetherein for receiving said upright end of said second spring wire, saidfirst and second upright end being guided by the rotational movement ofsaid knob means out of and into a selected notch in each side of saidslot, respectively, forward and rearward of said pivot post, against andwith, respectively, the urgings of said first and said second springwires.

Means for locking a movable member comprising:

a base member, said base member being provided with a pivot post andlaterally spaced guide means; support member slidably movable over saidbase member between said guide means;

one side of said support member being formed with a plurality of closelyspaced notches;

said pivot post being adjacently spaced from said notched side of saidsupport member;

spring wire interposed between said base member and said support member,one end of said spring wire being anchored to said base member, theother end of said spring wire being angled upright, said upright end ofsaid spring wire engaging one of said plurality of notches and extendingabove said support member; and

knob means mounted on said pivot post for rotatable movement thereon,said knob means having a hole therein for receiving said upright end ofsaid spring wire above said support member, and said upright end beingguided by said knob means out of and into a selected notch forward ofsaid pivot post against and with, respectively, the urging of saidspring wire.

6. In a device for locking a heel support member slidably movable foradjustment relative to a ski member and wherein guide means are providedon said ski member to constrain said heel support member to uni-axialmovement thereover and wherein said heel support member has providedtherein an elongated slot having formed in one side of said slot aplurality of closely spaced notches, the combination therewith of;

a spring wire interposed between said heel support member and said skimember;

one end of said spring Wire being anchored to said ski member;

the other end of said spring wire being angled upright to engage one ofsaid plurality of notches and extending above said heel support member;and

knob means pivotally mounted on said ski member engaging said other endof said spring wire extending above said heel support member to movesaid other end of said spring wire out of one of said notches againstthe urging of said spring wire.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,088,138 5/63Martin 9-310 3,089,158 5/63 Powers 9-310 3,102,279 9/63 Bennett 9-3 10MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

FERGUS S. MIDDLETON, Examiner.

3. A HEEL SUPPORT FOR WATER SKI COMPRISING: A PLATE MEMBER, SAID PLATEMEMBER HAVING TRAKWAYS AND AN ELONGATED SLOT FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OFCLOSELY SPACED NOTCHES; PIN MEANS CONNECTING SAID WATER SKI AND ENGAGINGSAID TRACKWAYS OF SAID PLATE MEMBER TO CONSTRAIN SAID PLATE MEMBER TOSLIDABLE FORWARD AND REARWARD MOVEMENT; A PIVOT POST CONNECTING SAIDWATER SKI AND EXTENDING UPRIGHT THROUGH SAID ELONGATED SLOT IN AID PLATEMEMBR; A WIRE SPRING INTERPOSED BETWEEN SAID WATER SKI AND SAID PLAEMEMBR, ONE END OF SAID WIRE SPRING BEING ANCHORED TO SAID WATER SKI ANDTHE OTHER END OF SAID WIRE SPRING BEING UPTURNED FOR EXTENDING UPRIGHTTHROUGH SIAD SLOT ABOVE SAID PLATE MEMBER FORWARD OF SAID PIVOT POST;AND KNOB MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID PIVOT POST FOR ROTATABLE MOVEMENTTHEREON, SAID KNOB MEANS HAVING PASSAGEWAY THEREIN FOR RECEIVING SIADUPTURNED END OF SIAD WIRE SPRING, AND SAID UPTURNED END BEING GUIDED BYSAID KNOB MEANS OUT OF AND INTO A SLECTED NOTCH FORWARD OF SAID PIVOTPOST, AGAINST AND WITH, RESPECTIVELY, THE URGING OF SAID SPRING.